SC seeks response from CBI for not booking Telecom Comps in 2G case

The Supreme Court sought response from CBI and the Enforcement Directorate over a charge that they were going soft on companies like Essar, Loop and their promoters by not slapping corruption charges against them in the case arising out of the 2G spectrum scam.

A bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly issued notice to them to also respond on the probe done against the former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran after it was alleged that CBI was not doing anything after registering FIR.
The court passed the order on an application filed by an NGO alleging that CBI's decision not to book Essar Group and its promoters under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been "facilitated" by the intervention of CBI Director and Law Minister Salman Khurshid.
The bench, after holding a brief hearing in the case, asked the agencies to file their response in 10 days on all these allegation and posted the matter for further hearing on January 20.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation, contended that CBI's decision not to slap charges under PCA was in contradiction of the investigation officers' report which had found "strong evidence in the case and had apparently/reportedly proposed charges even under the Act."
"Therefore, not charging the accused under the Prevention of Corruption Act ignoring the findings of the Investigating Officers, is unwarranted.
This is unacceptable, especially, in a case where the investigations are being monitored by this Court and investigating officers are reporting to the Court," he told the told court.
Bhushan alleged that the present Law Minister was trying to "influence" the probe against Essar group.
"The interference of an influential Minister in the Government, the Law Minister Mr Salman Khurshid, is evident. He is publicly giving clean chit to Essar/Loop," Bhushan said.
"It is to be noted that this case is similar to that of Swan-Reliance wherein CBI has already filed charge-sheets against officials of Swan, Reliance and also the public officials".
The charge sheets include charges under Prevention of Corruption Act.
"The above developments are likely to weaken the prosecution case in the matter of Swan-Reliance as well," the NGO said.
The agency had on December 12 filed the third charge sheet against Essar Group promoters Anshuman and Ravi Ruia, Essar Group director (Strategy and Planning) Vikas Saraf, Loop Telecom promoters Kiran Khaitan and her husband I P Khaitan.
The agency also named three companies- Loop Telecom Pvt Ltd, Loop Mobile India Ltd and Essar Tele Holding as accused in the case. All of them have been charge sheeted under section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC.
Essar Group in a statement had denied the allegations against them.
The NGO also demanded that the agency should probe the role another company Shyam Telelink Ltd, which had got licences, during the tenure of former Telecom Minister A Raja, and in which Russian billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov has invested money

'Kalinga Chair' award to Prof Trinh Xuan Thuan of Vietnam

Eminent scientist, Professor Trinh Xuan Thuan of Vietnam has been conferred with the prestigious 'Kalinga Chair' award at the 99th Indian Science Congress being held in Bhubaneswar.
Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, gave away the award marking 60th anniversary of the prestigious UNESCO Kalinga Prize.


The award was given by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in association with Bhubaneswar based Kalinga Foundation Trust and Union Ministry of Human Resources Development and Department of Science and Technology.

Kalinga Chair is awarded to one among the winners of the UNESCO Kalinga Prize and was introduced by the Central Government to mark the 50th anniversary of Kalinga Prize.Thuan was winner of the UNESCO Kalinga Prize in 2009.Eleven former winners of the coveted UNESCO Kalinga Prize were also felicitated by Naveen Patnaik at the function.

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Oil jumps to above USD 101

Oil prices jumped to over USD 101 a barrel on Tuesday amid concerns that rising tensions between Western powers and Iran could lead to crude supply disruptions.  

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for February delivery was up USD 2.67 to USD 101.50 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract fell 82 cents to settle at USD 98.83 in New York on Friday.

Global oil markets were closed Monday for the New Year's Day holiday.

In London, Brent crude was up USD 2.70 at USD 110.08 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

On Monday, Iran test-fired a surface-to-surface cruise missile, part of 10-day naval maneuvers scheduled to end Tuesday.

Iran's navy chief Adm. Habibollah Sayyari said the test showed the key oil passageway Strait of Hormuz is "completely under our control."

"The ever-growing frequency of intense saber-rattling and muscle flexing between Iran and the US should keep the markets jittery and vulnerable to sudden price jumps," analysts at JBC Energy in Vienna said.

Iran has threatened to close the strait, where one-sixth of global crude exports pass, as possible retaliation to new US economic sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme.

"Renewed rhetoric out of Iran could force another rush of geopolitical risk premium into the market," energy consultant Ritterbusch and Associates said in a report.

Optimism over survey data from China and India indicating expansion in the manufacturing and services sectors helped allay concerns about demand in emerging markets, while crude prices also benefited from a weaker dollar, which makes the commodity cheaper and a more attractive investment for traders holding other currencies.

35 member business delegation Saudi Arab;visiting;FICCI, Federation House, New Delhi

35 member business delegation Saudi Arab is visiting India in January, 2012. On this occasion FICCI is organizing business to business meetings with the visiting delegation as per the following schedule:

Date: January 4, 2012

Time: 10:30 a.m.

Venue: FICCI, Federation House, New Delhi

The Business Delegation is drawn from the Sectors like: Engineering, Oil & Gas, Drilling, Construction & Infrastructure, Project Development, Consultancy, Mergers & Acquisitions, Telecommunications, Instrumentation & Plant Automation, Power Systems & Transmissions, Renewable energy, Cement & Ales, Mining (Gold, Copper, Salt & Refinery), Real Estate, Hotels, Restaurants,  Investment & Trade, Building Material & Sanitary Products, Industrial Projects (Stainless Steel , Electricity, Power Supply, Transportation & Agriculture), Stainless Steel, Agriculture Machinery, Poultry Farming, Packaging, Clothing, Shoes, Gifts Items, Leather & Accessories, Carbonated Drinks, Frozen Foods, Sweets, Aluminum Cans, Ice Cream, Juices, Artificial Turf, Environment De-polluting, Alternative Energies,  Office Furniture, Fire Safety & Security Equipment, Household & Kitchen Ware Utensils, Melamine & Plastics, Tempered Glass, General Trading, Electrical & Mechanical Equipments, Cable Management System, Information Technology & Hardware, Travel & Tourism, Hospital Operations, Education, Research & Development etc.

 There is a registration fee of Rs.1000/- to attend the meeting. There is no fee for B2B portal subscribers.

Kindly log on to http://www.ficci-b2b.com/forthcoming.asp and register your name ONLINE (Registration Link can be accessed by both Subscribers & Non Subscribers). The composition of the Business Delegation can be accessed using the above-mentioned link.

The last date of the registration is 31^st Dec, 2011.

Iran tests missiles near key oil-transit strait

Iran on Monday tested missiles near the Strait of Hormuz, underlining its threats to close the vital oil-transit waterway as the West prepares to impose more economic sanctions.

The launch of two missiles took place on the final day of war games in waters east of the strait at the entrance to the Gulf, a navy spokesman, Commodore Mahmoud Mousavi, was quoted as saying by official media.
Another missile was also to be tested, he said.
The longest range of the missiles tested today was some 200 kilometres. Yesterday, a medium-range surface-to-air missile was also test-fired during the exercises, according to Mousavi.
The show of military muscle was designed to show Iran's ability to close the Strait of Hormuz -through which 20 per cent of the world's oil flows if it chooses.
The United States, which keeps its Fifth Fleet based in the Gulf, has warned it will not tolerate a closure of the strategic channel.
Halfway through the 10 days of Iranian navy manoeuvres it sent an aircraft carrier, the USS John C Stennis, through the strait on what the Pentagon said was a "routine" passage.
But Iranian political and military officials insist they could take that drastic step if the West imposes more sanctions, on top of others that have already taken their toll on Iran's oil-dependent economy.
US President Barack Obama imposed pressure at the weekend, signing into law new unilateral sanctions targeting Iran's central bank and financial sector.

Israeli and Palestinian meet for peace

JERUSALEM: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to meet this week after more than a year of deadlocked peacemaking, officials said on Sunday, but both sides played down prospects of any imminent resumption of talks.Yitzhak Molcho of Israel and Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erekat will meet on Tuesday in Jordan alongside representatives of the Quartet of Middle East mediators - the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.An official Israeli government representatives will meet with Palestinian officials in Amman on Tuesday, at the behest of King Abdullah of Jordan. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's special envoy expected to discuss security arrangements and border issues with chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat.Issac Molho, is expected to discuss security arrangements and border issues with chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat, with the participation of Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, who will mediate between the parties.
 Palestinian sources stressed that they have no expectation of a diplomatic breakthrough in the short term, both because of the composition of the Israeli government and because of the U.S. presidential election campaign that is starting to get under way. They believe that there will be no progress in peace negotiations until after the American election in November.

Negotiations stalled in late 2010 after Israel refused to renew a partial freeze on Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank as demanded by the Palestinians.Palestinians say they cannot negotiate while Israel builds settlements on land where they intend to found a state. Israel says talks should have no preconditions.

Kayed said the Israelis and Palestinians would meet bilaterally as well as with the Quartet, "to build upon" their respective contacts with the international brokers.

This year was difficult one-2011:PM

Dr MM Singh said, "The year that has just ended was a very difficult year for the world" and in this regard cited the economic crisis, socio economic tensions, "political upheavals in many developing countries" and "a revolution of rising expectations fostered by the extraordinary reach of the electronic media and the connectivity provided by new social networking platforms."
These issues kept governments around the world "on their toes", he said, adding that "we in India have had our share of problems."
Talking in the context of India specifically, Singh said the economy slowed down, inflation edged up and "concern about corruption moved to the centre stage".
Counselling against despondency, he said, "we must address the new concerns that have arisen while remaining steadfast in our commitment to put the nation on a development path which ensures rapid, inclusive and sustainable growth".
"I want to assure you all on this New Year's day that I personally will work to provide an honest and more efficient government, a more productive, competitive and robust economy and a more equitable and just social and political order."
Singh, who was one of the architects of liberalisation initiated in 1991, said that process was aimed at freeing the citizens from the "dead weight" of bureaucracy and corruption.
"...Old forms of corruption have vanished, new forms of corruption have emerged which need to be tackled. Elimination of corruption is critical to support genuine entrepreneurship," he said, adding "It is also the demand of the ordinary citizen who encounters corruption all too often in everyday transactions with those in authority.